A Kent double glazing company with three outlets in Medway towns has
been fined for safety failings after building a conservatory over a gas
flue.
Family firm Supaglazing Ltd., of Strood, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for breaching gas safety regulations - the second time the firm has been convicted for such failings.
On 3 September, Dartford Magistrates’ Court was told that the firm’s workers had constructed a conservatory over an existing gas flue for a boiler at a property on Beavor Road, Allington, Maidstone so there was no escape route for gases and other combustion products.
The homeowners, including a woman who was pregnant at the time, were living there with a child and were unaware of the potential dangers.
The incident came to light following a report from a registered Gas Safe engineer who went to the house to give an estimate for relocating a flue for a gas boiler.
Magistrates heard that HSE, which investigated the safety breach, had prosecuted the firm in January 2009. In that instance it had also built over an existing flue at a house in Maidstone.
Supaglazing Ltd., of Knight Road in Strood, which also has outlets in Dartford and Sittingbourne, admitted breaching the Gas Safety Regulations between 23 July and 2 October 2010. It was fined £14,000 and ordered to pay £2,826 in costs.